
3395 files in 56 albums with 39 comments viewed 806303 times |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
North Valley State Sanatorium
|

|


|
|
Part of a much larger campus this now vacant building at North Valley State Sanatorium was built in the 1930s at a cost of only $600,000. Known originally as the Children’s Hospital this building served as a preventorium for tuberculosis. The Children’s Hospital consisted of two wings jutting from a central pavilion. The building included two indoor pools designed specifically for tuberculosis patients, a library, four classrooms, exercise rooms, single patient rooms as well as wards, an auditorium, a movie theatre, lounges, and a complete single-family house in the east wing for rehabilitation. The hospital opened in 1940 and was used as a preventorium until 1956. From 1956-1959 it provided a home for mentally retarded women. From 1965-1985 the building housed geriatric patients. The building closed in 1985 due to a deteriorating roof and has been sitting vacant since.
122 files, last one added on Dec 09, 2006
|
|
|
|
North Point Hospital
|

|


|
|
This area's historical significance is its connection with the largest invasion of the United States in history on the morning of September 12, 1814. The British had landed about seven thousand men near the site that later became Fort Howard, as a part of a campaign to capture and burn Baltimore. In coordination with their navy's bombardment of Fort McHenry, the British troops were to march up Patapsco Neck and capture Baltimore from the east. But the British advance was first demoralized when American sharpshooters Daniel Wells and Henry McComas killed their popular commanding general. The advance had been temporarily stalled by the Americans in the Battle of North Point, and finally stopped dead when the British perceived the strength of the American defenses at Patterson Park. Disheartened, they re-boarded their ships near North Point and sailed away- to another defeat, in the Battle of New Orleans.
Fort Howard was originally known as North Point, but was renamed in 1902 after Colonel John Eager Howard, a Baltimore philanthropist and distinguished soldier of the Maryland Continental Line during the Revolutionary War. In the 1700's, the site served as an important part of the transportation route between the Eastern Shore and the port of Baltimore. Known as the "Bulldog at Baltimore's Gate", Fort Howard was also created to protect the valued Baltimore Port. Many of the fort batteries, previously manned by Coast Artillery Corps, can still be seen, although they are now covered by dark ivy and bushes.
The hospital was built around 1940 on the post garrison area of the fort. The rehabilitation facility which had 154 hospital operating beds also provided rehabilitation medicine, geriatric medicine, substance abuse rehabilitation, subacute care, and outpatient services. It operated a 47 bed nursing home care unit that was closed in 1996 with the opening of the new nursing home in Baltimore. Many of the other services that were available here have been transfered elsewhere.
Of the many structures on site all of them are abandoned with the exception of the out-patient clinic, grounds crew building and the security building at the front gate. Plans are in the works to create a veterans retirement community on the old campus so it may not last much longer in its current condition before building/demolition begins.
109 files, last one added on Nov 04, 2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Naval Training Center
|

|


|
|
The U.S. Naval Training Center, Bainbridge served the United States Navy for 34 years from its beginning as a recruit training command in 1942 to its closing in March of 1976. During that period of time it also served as, among other functions, the home for the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS), the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), the Naval Reserve Manpower Center, and various specialized training schools. The Navy announced its plans to close the base in 1971 which resulted in the final closing in 1976. In 1999, the Federal Government turned the property over to the State of Maryland which sold the property to developers. Residential and commercial development is planed for the site as well as a retirement home, parks, cemetery, library, and much more.
88 files, last one added on Aug 23, 2006
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
American Brewery
|

|


|
|
The American Brewery is not only a monument to the development of brewing, one of Baltimore's major industries, but also to the Germans who worked and lived in the area. John Frederick Wiessner, a German immigrant, leased the land in 1863 in order to erect a brewery. Although there were already 21 breweries in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Wiessner's Brewery rapidly expanded, employing many Germans that had been brewers prior to their emigration to America. In 1887, Wiessner constructed the present building to enlarge and modernize his brewery.
The height of the building and the internal organization of space were determined by the requirements of brewing, but its exuberant exterior reflects the tastes and decorative detail popular during the Victorian age in which it was built. The American Brewery was one of the largest and finest breweries in the state. The Wiessners were forced to sell during Prohibition, and the Allegheny Beverage Company was the last company to occupy the brewery. In the mid-1930s, a modern brewery was created behind the old facade. "American Beer" was produced here until 1973.
41 files, last one added on Jun 07, 2007
|
|
|
Belmont Prison
|

|


|
|
Built in the early 1900s Belmont prison started out with a capacity of 60 inmates. Over time Belmont grew to an extensive 3,200 acre complex housing between 6,000 and 7,000 inmates.
The facility fell into a condition of dangerous despair. Security was understaffed, inmates were killing other inmates and reports say the drug trafficking inside the prison had become uncontrollable.
Congress demanded the facility be shut down. The prison closed ahead of schedule in November 2001. A school has already been built on the property. Other future plans include art studios, museum, golf course expansion, residential housing, retirement home, cemetery, park land, etc…
60 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006
|
|
Seton Psychiatric Institute
|

|


|
|
A few buildings and a garage are all that remains of the Seton Psychiatric Institute in Baltimore city. The largest remaining structure was some type of living quarters, maybe a nurse residence. The main hospital building was demolished years ago.
In 1844 the buildings were acquired by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, who operated them as a hospital, Mount Hope Asylum (later Retreat), until the 1880s.
The Sisters of Charity went on to establish another psychiatric facility, known as the "Mount Hope Retreat," which later became the Seton Institute. An interesting footnote is the fact that the Sisters of Charity were later accused of using the Mount Hope Retreat to "unlawfully imprison" and torture patients.
The customary practice in Catholic dioceses and congregations across the United States when complaints of abuse were made was to transfer the priest out of his current position into another position of clerical service unless the situation came to the attention of civil authorities or threatened grave scandal. In these cases, the priests or religious were sent to a treatment facility, such as Seton, in order to avoid criminal prosecution and/or public exposure. In virtually all referrals to Seton Institute for sexual contact involving minors, the precipitating event was usually either a risk of public exposure or a court—related referral.
To make a long story short… Catholic priests that had problems including sexual involvement with minors were sent here for treatment avoiding prosecution.
33 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006
|
|
|
Henryton State Hospital
|

|


|
|
Henryton State Hospital is located in a wooded, steeply sloped rural area in the southeast corner of the County. The facility was established in the 1920’s as a tuberculosis hospital for the “Negro” population. Henryton was converted to a facility serving the developmentally disabled population (i.e., mental retardation) in 1962, and closed in 1985. It has been vacant since closing. However, the Maryland State Police currently use the facility on a part-time basis to train police dogs and demonstrate how to conduct searches, etc.
The Henryton campus consists of eighteen buildings, with a total of 228,000 square feet. The campus is located on 46 acres in the middle of a State Park. The main buildings at Henryton include three connecting multi-story structures, built between the 1920’s and 1940, containing approximately 119,000 square feet. The earliest building comprised the original tuberculosis hospital. Two additions were built and renovations were made to the original building between the time of the original construction and 1940. There are also five support buildings located nearby. These were built between 1936 and 1952 and contain approximately 96,000 square feet. Seven small maintenance buildings or sheds scattered throughout the campus were constructed between the 1920’s and 1940 and have a total of 8,000 square feet of space. Finally, there are three other maintenance buildings constructed between 1957 and 1960.
The property is abandoned and currently for sale and having trouble selling due to environmental issues and the historical value of the buildings some of which cannot be torn down.
65 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006
|
|
Nike Missile Base
|

|


|
|
The Nike named after the Greek goddess of victory, was the name given to a program that produced the worlds first successful guided surface-to-air missiles. During the start of the cold war the United States built Nike missile sites around populated areas due to the threat of a new wave of soviet long range bomber aircraft which were capable of carrying bombs well withing the continental US.
This Launch Control Area (LCA) site consits of about 10 acres. On site is a guardhouse, former barracks, water tanks, pump house, an acid-neutralization pit, three missile silos, three monitoring wells, and numerous trailers, autos and other misc junk.
In 1954, the United States Government obtained the land for the this Nike Launch site from a private owner. The site formerly contained the equipment required to assemble, test, and maintain missiles and associated launchers. According to the current owner, in 1962, the site was deactivated because it was unsuitable for the Hercules missile system that began deployment that year. Between 1962 and 1985, the site was inactive, and the property was still owned by the Federal Government. In 1985, a neighboring farmer purchased the property from the Federal Government for $65,000. For a short time in 1986, the property was leased to the County Police Department. Since then, the property has been used by the farmer for breeding horses and goats.
This site is on the State Master List that identifies potential hazardous waste sites in Maryland. Because of that it can't be used for much of anything and sits over-grown and piled with junk. The site barely resembles the military facility it used to be. The watch towers are gone and the access doors to the silos have been welded shut. Other access points have been locked via pad-locks.
17 files, last one added on Aug 22, 2006
|
|
|
|
NRL Satellite Facility
|

|


|
|
In the mid-1960s the Naval Research Laboratory built an experimental satellite-communications facility at a former Nike missile control site near (W-45). The facility contained a 60-foot parabolicdish antenna, transmitters, and a low-noise receiving system. It was also equipped fully for satellite tracking, data processing, and communications modulation experiments. The installation was completed in 1967.
The facility was used during the Vietnam War as part of a special operation called "Compass Link", established by the Defense Communications Agency to pass high-quality target photography from Vietnam to Washington, DC. Compass link was established using two DSCSI satellites, providing two hops: Vietnam to Hawaii, and Hawaii to Maryland. From Maryland the imagery was transmitted by land line directly to the White House and the Pentagon. Compass Link was used extensively until the end of the Vietnam War.
One of the Navy's goals in building the facility was to test satellite-communications technology at frequencies higher than UHF, where for example, there would be plenty of bandwidth available for new techniques such as anti jam modulation. The first transmitter installed at the facility was in the SHF communications band (radar X-band) of the microwave spectrum. During the late 1960s the Waldorf facility was heavily involved in testing both U.S. commercial satellites and the Defense Satellite Communications System.
In the 1970s the facility was a participant in tests of satellite communications in the EHF band (involving experiments with the Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Satellites (LES) 8 and 9). These tests were part of the MILSTAR development effort.
In the late 1970s, the facility also played a role in tests of the Fleet Broadcast Processor, as part of the FLTSATCOM program.
The facility was decommissioned by the United States Government General Services Administration (GSA) and were publicly auctioned off in 1998 and then repurchased by a private investor in early 2000's.
The right to demolish and scrap the dishes and other structures was auctioned off on ebay on March 13, 2005 for $136.20. The buildings have been demolished and removed. All that remains are the two dishes, some storage tanks and a bunch of concrete slabs.
19 files, last one added on Aug 21, 2006
|
|
|
|
|

Random files |

110 views
|
|

192 views
|
|

473 views
|
|

129 views
|
|

103 views
|
|

126 views
|
|

92 views
|
|

129 views
|
|

|